TRANSITIONING 

VETERANS

Improved Oversight 

Needed to Enhance 

Implementation of 

Transition Assistance 

Program

Report to Congressional Committees

March 2014

GAO-14-144

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-14-144, a report to 

congressional committees

March 2014

TRANSITIONING VETERANS:

Improved Oversight Needed to Enhance 

Implementation of Transition Assistance Program

Why GAO Did This Study

Over the next few years, over a million 

military servicemembers are expected 

to transition to civilian life and some 

may face challenges such as finding 

employment. To help them, TAP 

provides departing servicemembers 

employment assistance and 

information on VA benefits, among 

other things. Begun in 2011, efforts to 

revamp TAP are underway based on

the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011

and the administration’s

recommendations. The act also 

mandated GAO to review TAP. This 

report addresses: 1) the status of TAP

implementation; 2) the extent to which 

elements of effective implementation 

and evaluation of TAP have been

addressed; and 3) any challenges that 

may remain. To do this GAO identified 

five elements of effective 

implementation and evaluation based 

on relevant federal laws and previously 

established GAO criteria for training 

programs; reviewed related GAO work; 

assessed reports, plans, and policies 

provided by agencies that administer 

TAP; interviewed officials from entities 

that support servicemembers and 

veterans; and conducted four 

nongeneralizable discussion groups 

with servicemembers who had taken 

TAP at three military installations.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD improve 

oversight and implementation of TAP, 

including actions to gauge participation

for all of the services and collect data

about National Guard and Reserve

members’ experiences. DOD 

disagreed with two of GAO’s three 

recommendations. GAO continues to 

believe that the recommendations are 

needed as discussed in the report.

What GAO Found

The Departments of Defense (DOD), Labor (DOL), and Veterans Affairs (VA) 

have implemented most of the key components of the Transition Assistance 

Program (TAP), a gateway to information and services available to 

servicemembers transitioning to civilian life. However, the agencies are still in the 

process of implementing other key components of TAP. While originally planned 

for October 2013, agencies now plan to implement virtually all components by 

the end of March 2014, with full implementation expected by June 2014.

Agencies’ efforts are underway to adequately address three of five elements that 

GAO identified as important for effective implementation and evaluation of TAP:

1-Track attendance: DOD has systems to collect and report on attendance,

which help measure the extent to which TAP achieves its attendance goals.

2-Ensure training quality: The agencies collect and plan to use participant 

feedback on instruction, content, and facilities to improve training. Each agency 

also plans to monitor its respective TAP components through site visits.

3-Assess career readiness: The agencies developed standards to assess 

servicemembers’ career readiness. During a capstone assessment, commanders 

are expected to verify and document whether standards were met.

Agencies’ efforts to address the remaining two elements are mixed:

4-Ensure participation and completion: DOD has assigned commanders the 

responsibility for overseeing participation and has required the services to 

schedule training and communicate its importance to servicemembers. While the 

Army and Air Force gauge participation at the command level, the Navy and 

Marines lack a similar oversight mechanism.

5-Measure performance and evaluate results: The agencies have established 

certain measures to assess program performance, but their TAP evaluation 

approach is incomplete. For example, the agencies have established measures 

to track program outputs, such as the percentage of servicemembers who have 

participated in TAP. However, the agencies’ efforts to evaluate TAP results have 

focused on basic end-of-course evaluations and gauging servicemembers’ 

readiness prior to separation instead of higher impact program evaluations, such 

as assessing the effectiveness of TAP on servicemembers 6 months after they 

have separated from the military. According to agency officials, such evaluations 

are being considered for certain components of TAP, but they could not provide 

GAO with a justification for including or excluding specific components of TAP in 

their evaluation planning efforts.

Based on GAO’s prior work and according to officials from the agencies and 

organizations GAO spoke with, a key remaining challenge for TAP may be the 

unfavorable timing and location of program delivery for National Guard and 

Reserve members. Unlike active duty servicemembers, National Guard and 

Reserve members receive TAP services closer to their transition and in locations 

that are generally neither where they work nor live. As a result, they may be 

distracted and have less time to benefit from TAP services. DOD is not well 

positioned to verify these concerns because it is not collecting data about these 

members’ experiences with the timing and location of TAP service delivery.

View GAO-14-144. For more information, 

contact Andrew Sherrill at (202) 512-7215 or 

sherrilla@gao.gov.
Page i GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Letter 1

Background 5

Agencies Report That Most Locations Have Implemented Key 

TAP Components, but Some Locations Are Experiencing 

Delays 11

Agencies’ Efforts for TAP Adequately Address Three of Five Key 

Elements Associated with Effective Program Implementation 

and Evaluation 17

DOD Lacks a Process to Assess the TAP Experience of National 

Guard and Reserve Members 26

Conclusions 29

Recommendations for Executive Action 30

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 30

Appendix I Technical Appendix 36

Appendix II DOD Form 2958, Individual Transition Plan (ITP) Checklist 40

Appendix III Comments from the Department of Defense 42

Appendix IV Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs 45

Appendix V GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 46

Tables

Table 1: Selected Statutory and Task Force Requirements for 

Transition Assistance Program (TAP) 7

Table 2: Elements and Relevant Attributes and Extent They Have 

Been Addressed 36

Contents
Page ii GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Figures

Figure 1: Revamped Transition Assistance Program (TAP) 

Components, Activities, Providers, and Timeframes 9

Figure 2: Status of Implementing Key Components of Revamped 

Transition Assistance Program (TAP) as of December 2, 

2013 12

Abbreviations

DOD Department of Defense 

DODI DOD Instruction

DOL Department of Labor

DTAP Disabled Transition Assistance Program

ITP Individual Transition Plan

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

Post 9/11 GI Bill Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 

2008

SBA Small Business Administration

TAP Transition Assistance Program 

Transition GPS Transition Goals, Plans, Success

VA Department of Veterans Affairs

VEI Task Force DOD-VA Veterans Employment Initiative Task 

Force 

VOW Act VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011

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Page 1 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

March 5, 2014

Congressional Committees

Over the next 4 to 5 years, more than a million servicemembers are 

expected to leave the military and transition into civilian life.1

Amid concerns about the effectiveness of TAP and indicators that some 

post-9/11 veterans were having difficulty transitioning to civilian 

employment, Congress passed the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 

(VOW Act).

Some of 

these new veterans will face significant challenges, such as finding and 

maintaining employment. To help them, the Transition Assistance 

Program (TAP) has provided departing servicemembers counseling and 

offered employment assistance and information on federal veteran 

benefits, among other things.

2

 1 Over each of the next 4 years, the Department of Defense estimates that approximately 

170,000 to 185,000 active duty servicemembers will separate from the military and about 

60,000 National Guard and Reserve members will be demobilized and deactivated from 

active duty.

Among other changes to TAP, the VOW Act mandates that 

the Department of Defense (DOD) require departing servicemembers to 

participate in a workshop on finding employment as part of TAP. 

Concurrently, the administration initiated a redesign of TAP. As part of the 

redesign, all departing servicemembers are required to complete a set of 

tasks that demonstrate their readiness for a civilian career. According to 

the administration, these efforts are the first major redesign of TAP since 

the program’s inception over 20 years ago and represent a transformed 

approach. To oversee the design and development of the revamped TAP 

and related efforts, the administration called on DOD and the Department 

of Veterans Affairs (VA) to lead the DOD-VA Veterans Employment 

2 Pub. L. No. 112-56, Title II, 125 Stat. 711, 712. After the VOW Act became law, the 

unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans improved—decreasing from 13.1 percent in 

December 2011 to 7.3 percent in December 2013—but remained above the overall 

unemployment rate for non-veterans (6.4 percent), according to the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, veterans between the ages of 18 to 

24 maintain the highest rate of unemployment. In 2012, the unemployment rate for male 

post-9/11 veterans age 18 to 24 was 20.0 percent, higher than the rate for nonveterans of 

the same age group (16.4 percent).
Page 2 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Initiative Task Force (VEI Task Force) with the help of other federal 

partners.3

The VOW Act also mandated that GAO review TAP.4

1. the status of efforts to implement changes to key components of TAP,

Specifically, this 

report addresses:

2. the extent to which the agencies administering TAP have addressed 

elements important for the effective implementation and evaluation of 

TAP, and

3. remaining challenges, if any, that the agencies administering TAP 

may need to resolve.

To determine the status of efforts to implement changes to key 

components of TAP, we reviewed (1) VEI Task Force’s and related 

reports; (2) relevant federal laws and regulations; (3) program 

documentation, including policies, procedures, and supporting 

implementation plans; and (4) testimonies from the federal agencies 

responsible for administering TAP and several veterans’ service 

organizations. We also interviewed officials from these agencies and 

organizations. In addition, we obtained information about the extent to 

which the components of TAP were implemented at installations providing 

TAP. This information was provided by DOD and the services and 

included the status of implementation by service and installation. To 

assess the reliability of these data, we interviewed officials and obtained 

information from each service on their processes for collecting and 

reviewing these data, which included the revised VA benefits I and II 

briefings, three career tracks, and a capstone event. The remaining TAP 

components (such as pre-separation counseling and the Department of 

Labor (DOL) employment workshop) were essentially implemented prior 

to our review, so we did not obtain implementation dates by TAP location 

for these TAP components. Instead we relied on DOD reports and 

 3 The VEI Task Force was created in August 2011 to build on the existing TAP program 

and also incorporated the requirements of the VOW Act. The VEI Task Force renamed the 

revamped curriculum of TAP, Transition Goals, Plans, Success (Transition GPS).

4 Pub. L. No. 112-56, § 226, 125 Stat. 711, 719. On September 20 and 24 and November 

12 and 20, 2013, we briefed the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services and 

the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs on our preliminary observations. 

This report formally conveys the information provided during those briefings. 
Page 3 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

interviews with officials from the agencies and services to determine if 

these components were implemented at all TAP locations. We found the 

data to be sufficiently reliable for the purposes of reporting on the status 

of implementation.

To assess efforts to implement and evaluate the revamped TAP, we 

identified five elements important for the effective implementation and 

evaluation of TAP. The elements are: (1) systems to track attendance; (2) 

processes for ensuring quality of instruction, content, and facilities; (3) 

mechanisms to assess career readiness; (4) mechanisms to ensure 

participation and completion; and (5) measures of performance and 

processes to systematically evaluate the effectiveness or benefits of TAP. 

We identified the elements based on a review of relevant federal laws, 

including the VOW Act, and VEI Task Force recommendations for 

changing TAP, as well as a GAO assessment guide that identifies 

elements of effective training and development programs.5

To identify any remaining challenges, we reviewed prior GAO and other

reports related to TAP and veteran employment programs;

We also 

provided the elements to DOD and VA officials—as co-leaders of the VEI 

Task Force—for review and comment, and they were generally in 

agreement. Additional information about these elements and relevant 

attributes is provided in appendix I. To determine the extent to which 

agencies have addressed the five elements, we reviewed program 

documentation from the agencies and discussed the policies and 

mechanisms with knowledgeable officials. We compared the elements 

with this documentation and results of our discussions with officials at 

these agencies.

6

 5 See GAO, Human Capital: A Guide for Assessing Strategic Training and Development 

Efforts in the Federal Government, 

relevant 

federal laws and regulations; and testimonies from the federal agencies 

GAO-04-546G (Washington, D.C.: March 2004). The 

guide summarizes elements of effective training programs and presents related questions 

on the components of the training and development process in four broad, interrelated 

components: (1) planning/front-end analysis, (2) design/development, (3) implementation, 

and (4) evaluation. We mainly used the guide’s implementation and evaluation 

components to identify the detailed strategic training and development criteria applicable 

to TAP. These criteria remain relevant today because they are the most recent relevant 

guidance available to assess how agencies plan, design, implement, and evaluate 

effective federal training and development programs. 

6 For example, we reviewed a January 2013 Defense Business Board report that identified 

some of the remaining challenges associated with implementing and evaluating TAP.
Page 4 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

responsible for administering TAP and several veterans’ service 

organizations. We also interviewed officials from federal agencies 

responsible for administering TAP about any challenges they have faced 

in implementing the revamped program. In addition, we interviewed 

officials from organizations that support transitioning servicemembers and 

veterans to obtain their perspectives on any challenges the agencies face 

and what additional actions may be needed.

To increase our understanding and obtain servicemembers’ views of 

TAP, we conducted three site visits during which we observed portions of 

the revised TAP training sessions available at the time of our site visits. 

We also conducted 4 discussion groups with 28 servicemembers from all 

four services who had taken the training. We visited Joint Base LewisMcChord, Washington (US Army/Air Force), Marine Corps Base 

Quantico, and Naval Station Norfolk. We selected locations that had 

implemented changes to TAP, and that provided for geographic diversity 

and representation of all four services, but the information we collected 

from these sites is not generalizable.7

Because interagency partners were in the process of implementing 

changes to TAP and the revamped program was not fully operational at 

the time of our review, we were not able to determine whether the policies 

and procedures were in place at all sites or if they were working as 

intended.8

We conducted this performance audit from January 2013 to March 2014 

in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 

sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

Similarly, we were not able to comment on whether the 

changes to TAP are yielding desired benefits or improvements in 

outcomes.

 7 To select the sites, we worked with DOD officials to identify installations that had 

implemented selected revamped TAP training sessions, including the DOL employment 

workshop, the VA benefits training sessions, and the DOD core curriculum. We provided 

DOD and officials at each installation visited with criteria that the installation officials used 

to select servicemembers for our discussion groups. 

8 For example, because DOD was in the process of, or planning to, monitor the program 

content and delivery and collect data on attendance and outcomes, we did not test the 

application of DOD’s policies and procedures related to these areas. In addition, we were 

not able to review DOD’s plans to implement its military life cycle transition model because 

it is in the early planning stage and is not due to be operational until October 2014. 
Page 5 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Prior to the redesign initiated in 2011, TAP consisted of four core 

components: (1) pre-separation counseling, (2) an employment 

workshop, (3) an optional briefing on federal veteran benefits, and (4) the 

Disabled Transition Assistance Program. Pre-separation counseling, 

which includes VA benefits information, was required by law to be 

provided prior to the VOW Act.9

A number of revisions, new requirements, and components were added 

to TAP by the VOW Act and the VEI Task Force. For example, the VOW 

Act mandates that DOD require that transitioning servicemembers 

participate in an employment workshop, with some exceptions. Included 

among the VEI Task Force’s changes to the program are:

• an extended curriculum with segments on translating military skills to 

civilian job requirements, financial planning, and individual counseling 

and assessment with the goal of each servicemember developing an 

Individual Transition Plan;

 9 TAP was established through the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

1991, Pub. L. No. 101-510, § 502(a)(1), 104 Stat. 1485, 1551 (1990). Federal law spells 

out many topics that must be covered in TAP, including employment and relocation 

assistance, education opportunities, health and life insurance, and financial planning. 

Moreover, eligibility and the time frames for provision of TAP services are spelled out in 

law: all service members who have been on active duty for at least 180 days are eligible 

for TAP services, but those separating because of a disability are eligible regardless of the 

length of their active duty service. Eligible service members must be provided TAP while 

they are on active duty, either as soon as possible within the 2 years prior to their 

anticipated retirement date or in the 1 year prior to their anticipated separation date. In 

either case, TAP services must generally commence no later than 90 days prior to their 

discharge or release. The exceptions to this rule occur when retirements or separations 

are not anticipated until 90 or fewer days of active duty remain, or a member of the 

reserve is being demobilized under circumstances in which the 90 day requirement is 

unfeasible. In such cases, TAP services must be provided as soon as possible within the 

remaining period of service.

Background

Statutory and VEI Task 

Force Changes to TAP
Page 6 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

• an updated employment workshop and briefings on federal veteran 

benefits divided into two sessions.10 The VA benefits I and II briefings 

embed information relevant for those who have or think they have a 

service-connected disability rather than as part of a separate Disabled 

Transition Assistance Program component;

• a series of 2-day, career-specific tracks that focus on (1) pursuing 

college education, (2) entering a technical skills training program, or 

(3) starting a business. The track that a servicemember chooses 

depends on his or her post-separation goals;

• a capstone event during which servicemembers are to demonstrate—

and military service commanders verify—that they have met required 

career-readiness standards. The standards pertain to employment, 

education, and technical training, depending on the servicemember’s 

post-separation goals; and

• a referral process—called a “warm handover”—to connect 

servicemembers who do not meet the career readiness standards 

with the appropriate partner agency (VA or DOL) to provide continued 

support and services as veterans.

Additional details about the previous TAP compared to the revamped 

program are shown in table 1.

 10 At the completion of the employment workshop, servicemembers are given a “Gold 

Card” that entitles them to enhanced intensive services for six months by an employment 

specialist through DOL’s American Job Centers.
Page 7 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Table 1: Selected Statutory and Task Force Requirements for Transition Assistance 

Program (TAP) 

Activity

TAP requirements 

before the VOW Act 

and VEI Task Force

VOW Act 

requirements a VEI Task Force 

requirements

Pre-separation 

counseling 

Participation in preseparation 

counseling is 

generally mandated 

by law, and is to 

include information 

on VA benefits, 

among other 

information. 

The VOW Act made 

the use of the 

services under 10 

U.S.C. §1144, 

including assistance 

in identifying 

employment and 

training opportunities, 

and help in obtaining 

such employment 

and training,

mandatory. 

Pre-separation 

counseling now to 

include a needs 

assessment as well as 

introduce the 

requirement to develop 

an Individual Transition 

Plan (ITP). 

Individual 

Transition Plan 

(ITP) 

As part of preseparation 

counseling, creation 

of an ITP is required. 

No change All servicemembers

are required to 

consider their personal 

circumstances and 

transition plans in their 

ITP and any indicators 

of risk are determined 

by what is included in 

the ITP. 

Financial 

planning 

workshop 

As part of preseparation 

counseling, the 

financial planning 

workshop is required. 

No change Servicemembers are 

required to prepare a 

12-month, postseparation budget that 

reflects their career or 

training goals. 

Translating 

military skills to 

civilian job 

requirements. 

DOD was required to 

provide service 

members a 

certification /

verification of the job 

skills / experience 

they acquired that 

may apply to the 

civilian sector. 

DOL is required to 

conduct a study on 

equivalency between 

military and civilian 

jobs; DOD is to use 

the results to 

conduct 

individualized 

military-to-civilian 

skills review. 

Servicemembers are to 

receive help 

documenting their 

military experiences 

and identifying gaps 

between this 

experience and that 

needed for civilian 

jobs. 

DOL 

employment 

workshop 

DOD was required to 

“encourage and 

otherwise promote 

maximum 

participation” in the 

program. 

Effective Nov. 21, 

2012, DOD is 

generally required to 

mandate 

participation in the 

program, with 

exceptions.

The DOL employment 

workshop was revised. 

The revised 

workshop’s three-day 

format is tailored to the 

career readiness 

standards developed 

by the Task Force.

b
Page 8 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Activity

TAP requirements 

before the VOW Act 

and VEI Task Force

VOW Act 

requirements a VEI Task Force requirements

VA benefits 

briefing 

The VA benefits 

briefing consisted of a 

lengthy slide deck 

presentation and 

lecture. 

No change. Revised to consist of a 

4 hour interactive 

overview of VA 

benefits and 2 hours of 

interactive instruction 

on healthcare, 

eBenefits, disability 

compensation, and 

how to apply for 

benefits.c

Career-specific 

tracks 

The briefings 

are made mandatory.

None None Servicemembers may 

select one or more 

two-day career tracks: 

(1) higher education, 

(2) career technical 

training, and (3) 

entrepreneurship,

depending on their 

post-separation goals. 

Capstone & 

career readiness 

standards 

None None The capstone serves to 

verify that 

servicemembers have 

meet career readiness 

standards.

Military Life 

Cycle Transition 

Model 

None None By Oct. 2014, the 

services are required 

to embed preparation 

to meet career 

readiness standards 

throughout the span of 

a servicemember’s 

military career. 

Sources: GAO analysis of Veterans’ Employment Initiative Task Force information and relevant federal laws.

Notes:The legal requirements pertaining to TAP cited in the table are not exhaustive. We highlight 

certain key legal features.

a

This column contains legal requirements and a non-legal requirement.

b

The VOW Act allows DOD to waive the participation requirement for those for whom participation 

would not be of assistance because they are unlikely to face major readjustment, health care, 

employment, or other challenges associated with transition to civilian life; and servicemembers 

possessing specialized skills who, due to unavoidable circumstances, are needed to support a unit’s 

imminent deployment. The VOW Act requires that the DOL employment workshop use contracted 

instructors, effective November 21, 2013.

c

The VA benefits briefing embeds information for those who have or think they have a serviceconnected disability. Under the previous VA benefits briefing, information provided about serviceconnected disabilities was called the Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP).
Page 9 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Figure 1 shows each of the components in the order a servicemember 

would currently participate in the redesigned program. The services 

generally implement these core components at the installation level and 

may include other components in addition to TAP. 

Figure 1: Revamped Transition Assistance Program (TAP) Components, Activities, Providers, and Timeframes

Note: For clarity purposes, under the heading “DOD core curriculum” we group a number of modules. 

These DOD-led modules include (1) a TAP overview and orientation session; (2) a Military 

Occupation Codes Crosswalk module to begin the process of identifying skills, experience, 

credentials, and education that have been obtained while in the military and crosswalking them to 

civilian opportunities; (3) a Personal Financial Planning for Transition module to develop the financial 

aspects of servicemembers’ transition goals and a written plan to achieve them; and (4) Resilient 

Transitions module to introduce servicemembers to topics such as transition stress, family 

considerations, and the value of a mentor.

a

VA benefits I and II briefings are two sessions that provide an interactive overview of VA benefits and 

instruction on healthcare, eBenefits, disability compensation, and how to apply for benefits.

Rather than TAP continuing to be an end-of-career event, DOD plans to 

shift to a Military Life Cycle Transition Model after October 2014. This 

model is intended to integrate transition preparation—counseling, 

assessments, and access to resources to build skills or credentials—

throughout the course of a servicemember’s military career.
Page 10 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

The VEI Task Force oversaw the design and development of the revised 

TAP and was led by DOD and VA. Other agencies participating on the 

VEI Task Force include DOL, the Department of Education, the Office of 

Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, and the 

Small Business Administration (SBA). Members of the White House staff 

and senior representatives from each service also participated. Each 

agency is responsible for different activities. For example, DOD provides 

guidance and monitors compliance with TAP provisions, and DOL 

facilitates the employment workshop. Also, each service coordinates with 

agencies on scheduling TAP workshops and briefings. The respective 

roles and responsibilities are spelled out in a memorandum of 

understanding (MOU), which the agencies signed in January 2014.

11 A 

new TAP governance structure, established in October 2013, steers 

implementation of TAP and will modify the program, as needed, through 

2016. The new governance structure is co-led by DOD in 2014 and cochaired by VA and DOL.

With the draw down from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and as the 

military makes ongoing and planned force structure reductions, many 

servicemembers are projected to depart the military through 2017. TAP is 

one of a number of federal programs to assist transitioning 

servicemembers and veterans in developing job skills and securing 

civilian employment. TAP serves as a gateway to additional information 

and services that are available, either while servicemembers are on 

active duty or after they have separated from the military. For example 

the DOL employment workshop highlights many of the skills and 

techniques helpful in obtaining employment. After completing the 

workshop, servicemembers can benefit further by returning to the TAP 

offices on installations, using services at local VA and DOL offices, or 

using websites introduced to participants during TAP training.

Once servicemembers separate from the military, a number of other 

federal programs offer assistance. These programs include five 

employment and training programs overseen by DOL and VA that target 

 11 In addition to carrying out these agreements at the national level, based on the January 

31, 2014 MOU, the federal agencies encourage similar agreements among state and 

regional offices and the installations located in their areas.

Administration of the 

Revamped TAP

Other Federal 

Employment Programs 

That Serve Transitioning 

Servicemembers and 

Veterans
Page 11 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

veterans.12 DOL administers four of these employment programs targeted 

to veterans. For example, DOL provides grants to states to support state 

workforce agency staff positions, Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program 

Specialists and Local Veterans Employment Representatives, who serve 

veterans through the Jobs for Veterans State Grant Program. In addition, 

VA provides employment services to certain veterans with disabilities 

through the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program. As of 

2012, the program was offered in 56 regional offices and 169 satellite 

offices. In addition, DOD helps National Guard and Reserve members 

obtain civilian employment though its operation of other programs, 

including the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program and Employer 

Support of the Guard and Reserve. For example, the Yellow Ribbon 

Reintegration Program serves National Guard and Reserve members and 

their families by hosting events that provide information on employment 

opportunities, health care, education/training opportunities, finances, and 

legal benefits.

As of December 2, 2013, DOD, DOL, and VA have implemented changes 

to the program’s key components at most of the 206 military installations 

that provide TAP. However, a few program components have not yet 

been fully implemented by the agencies. For example, the agencies are 

still using the previous version of the VA benefits briefing at a number of 

locations and are offering the career technical training track at fewer than 

half of the TAP locations. Although some agencies had planned to fully 

implement the revamped TAP at all locations by October 1, 2013, they 

missed their targeted time frame. According to the revised plan, agencies 

now expect to implement virtually all components by the end of March 

2014, with full implementation planned by June 2014. The planned start 

dates and the status of agencies’ efforts to implement the key 

components at the 206 TAP locations are summarized in figure 2.

 12 For more information see GAO, Veterans’ Employment and Training: Better Targeting, 

Coordinating, and Reporting Needed to Enhance Program Effectiveness, GAO-13-29

(Washington, D.C.: December 13, 2012).

Agencies Report That 

Most Locations Have 

Implemented Key 

TAP Components, but 

Some Locations Are 

Experiencing Delays
Page 12 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Figure 2: Status of Implementing Key Components of Revamped Transition Assistance Program (TAP) as of December 2, 

2013

Notes: This figure is intended to present the key components of TAP. For clarity, we omitted the 

Military Life Cycle Transition Model, which will embed transition preparation over the course of a 

servicemember’s military career, and we group a number of training modules for which DOD is 

responsible under DOD core curriculum. 

Percentages are rounded.

a While the entrepreneurial track is offered at about 72 percent of TAP locations, the track is only 

offered quarterly, and SBA officials estimate it is meeting about 12 percent of the total demand.

b If servicemembers do not meet the career readiness standards, they are to be referred to the 

appropriate partner agency, a process called the “warm handover”. While the capstone event is 

nearly implemented, the agencies are finalizing the details for how the warm handover will work.

Pre-separation counseling and DOD Core Curriculum: According to DOD 

officials, eligible servicemembers were participating in pre-separation 

counseling and the modules in the new DOD core curriculum by 

November 21, 2012 at all TAP locations. As noted previously, part of the 

DOD core curriculum includes a module on translating military skills to 

civilian job requirements. Current military crosswalks map the majority of 

military occupations to a single civilian occupation. Based on those 

crosswalks and supplemented by analyses from Army and Navy 

credentialing websites, tools like DOL’s My Next Move and My Next Move 

for Veterans can suggest multiple occupations for career exploration. To 

enhance the existing electronic tools used for the crosswalk, DOL 

contracted with an organization to identify equivalencies between military 

and civilian jobs, as required by the VOW Act. According to DOL officials, 
Page 13 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

the results of the military equivalencies study will enhance the militarycivilian crosswalk by enabling a mapping of a single military occupation 

into multiple civilian occupations based on an analysis of embedded skill 

sets in addition to the similarity of tasks performed. This will be done for a 

selected set of military occupations that represent 59 percent of current 

active duty servicemembers. DOL officials said they plan to complete the 

update of the electronic tools beginning in 2014.

DOL Employment Workshop: Effective November 21, 2012, DOD was 

generally required to mandate participation in the program with some 

exceptions. According to DOD and DOL officials, the agencies met this 

participation requirement in the VOW Act by offering eligible 

servicemembers, with some exceptions,13 the previous or revised version 

of the DOL employment workshops at domestic and overseas locations 

by November 21, 2012. Moreover, as required by the act, the DOL 

employment workshops are being conducted by contractors at all TAP 

locations.14

VA Benefits Briefing: All departing servicemembers are generally required 

to be provided the VA benefits briefing. Officials from DOD and VA stated 

that this participation requirement was met by offering servicemembers 

the previous version of the VA benefits briefing while implementing a 

phased rollout of the revised VA benefits I and II briefings. As of 

December 2, 2013, the revised VA benefits I and II briefings were 

unavailable at about 8 percent of TAP locations. VA officials said that the 

revised VA benefits briefings are offered at all domestic locations. 

However, the revised briefings are not currently offered in all overseas 

locations, such as Air Force locations in Germany, South Korea, and 

Japan. Although VA planned to implement the revised benefits briefings 

by October 1, 2013, full implementation is now expected no later than 

As of the spring of 2013, the revised workshop was being 

offered at all TAP locations, according to DOD and DOL officials.

 13 While some servicemembers may be exempted from attending the DOL employment 

workshop—for example, DOD policy exempts servicemembers retiring after 20 or more 

years of service in the military—DOD is generally required to provide pre-separation 

counseling to servicemembers. Further, DOD requires servicemembers to attend the other 

components of TAP. However, some servicemembers will not be able to complete all the 

required TAP training for various reasons, according to DOD officials. This issue is 

discussed later in the report.

14 The VOW Act requires DOL to utilize one or more contractors to facilitate the 

employment workshop by November 21, 2013.
Page 14 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

March 31, 2014, according to VA officials. DOD and VA officials said that 

VA faced challenges, such as training enough personnel to facilitate the 

revised briefings at these overseas locations during the extended furlough 

and delays with negotiating agreements with foreign nations hosting U.S. 

military forces.

Career-specific Tracks: Since late 2012 the agencies had been planning 

to fully implement these tracks by October 2013. However, as of 

December 2, 2013, the tracks were not fully implemented, particularly at 

overseas locations:

• Entrepreneurial Track: SBA offers the entrepreneurial track at least 

quarterly at all domestic locations, but this only meets 12 percent of 

the estimated total demand for the track, according to SBA officials. 

Moreover, the track is not offered at the majority of overseas 

locations. After reviewing a draft of this report, SBA officials stated

that the track can be extended to meet domestic and overseas 

demand given additional funding recently provided in the fiscal year 

2014 budget. Full implementation at all TAP locations is expected by 

the end of fiscal year 2014, according to SBA officials.

• Career Technical Training Track: VA is offering the career technical 

training track at about 43 percent of the TAP locations. In particular, 

many overseas locations lack this track. According to VA officials, the 

delays were mainly due to efforts to incorporate substantial feedback 

received from participants during the pilot phase. VA completely 

revised the curriculum and piloted it in the summer of 2013. As a 

result, VA delayed training the facilitators until the curriculum was 

finalized and began its roll out in September 2013. According to the 

services’ implementation plans, full implementation of this track is 

expected by April 30, 2014.

• Higher Education Track: DOD is offering the higher education track at 

about 72 percent of TAP locations. According to DOD officials, they 

plan to offer the track at all locations, but sequestration and other 

resource constraints as well as delays in hiring and training facilitators 

slowed the roll out of this track. Full implementation is expected by 

April 9, 2014, according to the services’ implementation plans.

For servicemembers lacking access to the entrepreneurial track, content 

from the track is available online. The online version, however, is a poor 

substitute for the classroom-based track, according to SBA officials.

Unlike the technical training and higher education tracks, the 
Page 15 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

entrepreneurial track does not have associated readiness standards. 

According to SBA officials, the readiness standards for the other tracks 

were developed prior to the inclusion of this track in TAP. While they 

considered creating associated standards, SBA officials decided that the 

track’s main purpose is to help participating servicemembers determine 

whether or not starting a business in general or their specific ideas for a 

business is right for them, so standards were not needed.

If the higher education or career technical training tracks are not available 

for servicemembers who wish to attend an institution of higher education 

or seek technical training, other options are available to meet the 

readiness standards associated with the tracks. For servicemembers in 

remote locations or who are rapidly separating from the military, one 

option is to access a virtual TAP curriculum, according to a draft DOD 

policy under consideration.15

Capstone Event: The services, working with DOD, DOL, and VA, are 

finalizing implementation of a “capstone event”—a final check to verify 

that servicemembers have met TAP requirements—and a referral 

process, known as a “warm handover,” for those servicemembers who do 

not meet the requirements. Although as of December 2013 the services 

were holding capstone events at most locations, according to the 

services’ implementation plans, the details for how the capstone event 

and warm handover will work are still being finalized by DOD, DOL, VA, 

and the services. Specifically, the agencies and services must clarify the 

However, classroom instruction is the 

preferred method. Another option for servicemembers located overseas is 

to take the track at a domestic location when they return to the United 

States, according to DOD officials. Moreover, according to DOD policy, a 

servicemember could meet the standards outside of the track by 

completing the required documents or activities associated with those 

standards, such as by completing a comparison of academic institution 

choices and a college or university application. While servicemembers 

may meet the readiness standards without taking the tracks, they would 

miss instruction, for example, on resources to cope with challenges 

transitioning into college as nontraditional students (those who are older 

or with family obligations).

 15 DOD is updating a DOD Instruction (DODI) for TAP to reflect changes to the program. 

The DODI is in draft form and subject to revision. The draft DODI will be finalized after 

going through the federal rulemaking process, which generally requires agencies to 

publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register. 
Page 16 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

roles and responsibilities of servicemembers, TAP staff, commanders, 

and the partner agencies as well as develop policies and guidance that 

underpin this effort, according to a December 2013 DOD report about 

implementation of the capstone event at TAP locations.

In addition to implementing the key components of TAP at military 

installations, the services continue to update physical infrastructure at a 

number of locations to provide an optimal experience for servicemembers 

participating in TAP components. General standards for infrastructure are 

set forth in DOD policy. Approximately 6 percent of locations lack 

computer availability and according to officials from DOD, the Navy and 

Marine Corps, other infrastructure is still being put in place at a number of 

their domestic and overseas locations. According to officials from DOD, 

they expect all of the TAP locations to meet infrastructure standards by 

March 31, 2014.

Military Life Cycle Model: According to the agencies’ implementation plan, 

the envisioned end state for the redesigned TAP involves integrating 

transition preparation throughout the course of a servicemember’s career. 

The agencies refer to this end state as the military life cycle transition 

model. The services plan to fully implement the military life cycle by 

October 2014. Under this new transition model, for example, the Army 

intends for all new servicemembers to receive counseling and initiate an 

individual development plan regarding their military career goals within 30 

days of reporting to their first permanent duty station. Overall, DOD 

intends such counseling and planning to continue throughout a 

servicemember’s military career at various “touchpoints”, such as when 

they are promoted.16 For example, servicemembers will be expected to 

create plans for achieving their military and post-military goals for 

employment, education, or starting their own business. Further, 

servicemembers are to be made aware of the career readiness standards 

they must meet long before they separate.

 16 According to DOD’s draft TAP Department of Defense Instruction (DODI), DOD’s intent 

is for the services to identify key touch points of the military life cycle, such as the 

following: (1) first permanent duty station/home station; (2) reenlistment; (3) promotion; (4) 

deployment or redeployment; (5) mobilization/activation, demobilization/deactivation; (6) 

major life events (e.g., change in family status, etc.); and (7) retirement/separation.
Page 17 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Agencies have efforts underway to address three of the five key elements 

associated with effective program implementation and evaluation for TAP. 

However, agencies’ efforts to address the remaining two elements are 

mixed.

Effective training programs have systems to track data,17 and we found 

that DOD and the services have systems to collect and report on 

attendance rates and are taking steps to improve the reliability of these 

data. DOD developed a DOD-wide system to track attendance for all TAP 

components, which has been in use since October 2012.18

DOD and the services are taking steps to improve the reliability of these 

data. According to DOD officials, accuracy will improve now that the 

capstone event is in place because servicemember attendance at each of 

the three required TAP training components will be verified at this event. 

This system is 

populated with attendance data from the services. The Army and Air 

Force each input TAP attendance data into their own systems, which they 

then transmit to the DOD system, while the Navy and the Marines input 

TAP attendance data directly into the DOD system because they do not 

have service-level systems that allow for tracking individual TAP 

attendance.

 17 GAO-04-546G.

18 DOD and the services began this tracking at the beginning of fiscal year 2013 in 

anticipation of meeting the November 2012 VOW Act requirement. Additionally, all other 

modules of TAP can be captured through this system, including the career-specific tracks 

and the capstone event.

Agencies’ Efforts for 

TAP Adequately 

Address Three of Five 

Key Elements 

Associated with 

Effective Program 

Implementation and 

Evaluation

Agencies Are Adequately 

Addressing Three 

Elements

Element 1: Tracking 

Attendance
Page 18 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

According to DOD officials, the services are taking other steps to improve 

the accuracy of TAP attendance data, as well. For example, the Navy 

plans to replace the paper data collection systems that exist at some 

installations with electronic attendance tracking, which may be less prone 

to data-entry error.

DOD tracks attendance to measure progress toward its performance goal 

of eligible servicemembers attending the mandatory components each 

year, beginning in fiscal year 2013.19 In February 2014, DOD reduced the 

fiscal year 2014 performance goal from 90 percent to 85 percent. 

According to DOD officials, the expected attendance rate is less than 100 

percent because some servicemembers do not complete all required TAP 

training for various reasons.20

For fiscal year 2013, DOD expects an attendance rate of about 75 

percent, primarily because servicemembers that transitioned in that year 

may have taken several TAP components in fiscal year 2012, prior to 

when DOD and the services began tracking these rates. DOD anticipates 

meeting their goal in fiscal year 2014.

For example, some may separate quickly, 

such as for medical or disciplinary reasons, and not have an opportunity 

to fully take TAP.

Effective training programs incorporate feedback into training efforts,21

 19 DOD measures progress toward this goal by comparing data on attendance at three 

required components—pre-separation counseling, the DOL employment workshop, and 

the VA benefits I and II briefings—to information on servicemembers discharged over a 

given time period as well as other data DOD collects about individual servicemembers.

and each agency involved in TAP plans to use this type of information, as 

well as monitor their respective components, to improve TAP. To 

measure participants’ reactions to each TAP component they attend, 

including the career-specific tracks, DOD launched a participant 

assessment in April 2013. The assessment seeks feedback on the quality 

20 The revamped TAP is a key strategy of the administration’s Cross-Agency Priority Goal 

to improve the career readiness of veterans. The administration’s goal is to increase the 

rate of eligible servicemembers served by “career readiness and preparedness programs”

to 90 percent by September 30, 2013. The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 requires that 

OMB develop federal government performance goals (crosscutting goals) and a federal 

government performance plan, which is to be updated annually and released concurrently 

with the President’s budget.

21 GAO-04-546G.

Element 2: Ensuring Training 

Quality
Page 19 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

of the instruction, content, and facilities.22

According to agency officials, the agencies plan to use the results from 

the assessment to monitor the performance and outcomes for the 

redesigned TAP, assess trends, determine areas of improvement, and 

modify TAP components as appropriate. DOD is leading this effort. To 

help facilitate this effort, DOD officials said that they plan to analyze 

feedback at the DOD, service, and installation levels and share this 

information with partner agencies and the four services in a quarterly 

report. For example, the participant assessment collects demographic 

information that will allow for a comparison of the responses of 

servicemembers in different military branches, locations, and groups, 

such as enlisted personnel and officers. DOD performed a similar 

analysis in mid-2013 for responses to two questions in the participant 

assessment. This analysis provided DOD with information that could be 

used to understand how the program’s usefulness is perceived by 

different populations. Moreover, according to DOD’s TAP evaluation plan, 

DOD plans to convene teams with the partner agencies on an as-needed 

basis to make recommendations to address challenges, concerns, and 

areas for improvement. According to VA and DOL officials, they also plan 

to analyze the feedback to improve their respective components.

It also measures participants’ 

knowledge of the information presented in each component of the 

training.

The agencies also monitor their respective TAP components through site 

visits or plan to do so. According to DOD’s monitoring plan, DOD visits 

installations to monitor the TAP components it is responsible for as well 

as overall TAP implementation. According to DOL officials, their staff 

intends to perform annual monitoring visits to each domestic installation 

where the employment workshop is provided, but not at overseas 

installations. They said that at overseas locations they plan to rely on 

feedback from participant assessments, the company hired to facilitate 

the workshops, and the military staff at those DOD sites who will monitor 

the facilitators’ instruction and whether they are engaging and 

knowledgeable. VA officials said that they have not completed their

monitoring plan for the VA benefits I and II briefings and its career 

technical training track. However, they expect to have a quality assurance 

 22 Servicemembers are provided with the link to a web-based participant assessment and 

encouraged to complete it at the end of each TAP component they attend. 
Page 20 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

plan completed by March 2014. Also, in comments provided after 

reviewing a draft of this report, VA officials stated that VA is participating

in the DOD site visits to installations to monitor the TAP components. 

These are joint, agency-administered, on-site staff assistance visits led by 

DOD. Also, VA currently has contract staff at each military installation to 

monitor implementation of the VA benefits I and II briefings and the career 

technical training track.
Page 21 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Element 3: Assessing Career Readiness 

Effective training programs measure and document learning and make 

managers part of the process.23

• Created the career readiness standards commanders use to ensure 

that TAP participants have completed products, such as resumes and 

job applications, which demonstrate that they are career ready.

In assessing transitioning 

servicemembers’ career readiness, we found that agencies have taken 

the following steps:

• Created a capstone event to verify that standards have been met; the 

capstone event can be completed one-on-one, in large groups, or in 

small groups. For example, the Marines model is one-on-one.

• Assigned the task of verifying career readiness to commanders and 

identified steps to ensure that commanders or their designees are 

properly trained to assess an individual servicemember’s career 

readiness.24 To document whether or not a servicemember is career 

ready, DOD developed a new form called the Individual Transition 

Plan (ITP) Checklist in which each one of the career readiness 

standards is listed. We have reprinted this form in appendix II.

• Developed procedures for providing a warm handover, or referral, for 

servicemembers not meeting the career readiness standards. 

Generally, the warm handover is to be a confirmed person-to-person 

contact.

 23 GAO-04-546G.

24 DOD is also taking steps to ensure that commanders or their designees are properly 

trained to coach, evaluate, and conduct employee career discussions. For example, DOD 

developed an individual transition plan checklist for commanders to use. Also, the Army 

includes TAP in its leadership training at every installation and is developing a commander 

and career counselor guide that outlines the responsibilities, measures of success, and 

tools for implementing TAP at the unit level. Furthermore, DOD plans to establish quality 

standards for products required by the career readiness standards, such as job 

applications, to be used by commanders to objectively validate and evaluate the extent to 

which servicemembers met these standards. Similarly, according to the December 2012 

DOD-VA VEI Task Force Implementation Plan, the services are developing scripts to 

structure sessions that the commanders or their designees hold with eligible 

servicemembers to discuss their transition plans.

Steps to Career-Readiness

TAP career-readiness standards require...

1. Completing a 12-month post-separation 

budget

2. Documenting requirements and eligibility 

for certification, licensure, and 

apprenticeship

3. Evaluating transferability of military skills 

to civilian workforce and gap analysis

4. Registration on eBenefits

5. Completing an Individual Transition Plan

6. Completing a Continuum of Military 

Service Opportunity counseling

7. Completing a job application package or 

presenting a job offer letter

8. Completing the assessment tool to 

identify personal interests and leanings 

regarding career selection

9. Receiving a DOL Gold Card and 

understanding that post 9/11 veterans 

have priority for 6 months at DOL 

American Job Centers.

Career-readiness standards also exist for the 

associated higher education and career 

technical training tracks.

Source: DOD. 
Page 22 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

According to the December 2013 DOD capstone report, during the recent 

pilot of the capstone event, several implementation challenges emerged. 

For example, confusion exists among servicemembers, TAP staff, 

commanders, and the agencies as to their roles and responsibilities in the 

capstone event. According to the DOD capstone report, to address this 

challenge, the agencies are taking actions, such as the services 

implementing a training program for their TAP staff and planning efforts to 

educate commanders and servicemembers on the requirements, 

purpose, and importance of the capstone event.

As noted previously, according to DOD guidance, if a servicemember has 

not met the career readiness standards at the time of the capstone event, 

they are to be referred to the appropriate curriculum or services before 

they transition. If they do not meet the standards before separating from 

the service, the services plan to provide them with a “warm handover”. 

The delivery of the warm handover may vary at domestic and overseas 

locations because DOL and VA have limited capacity at overseas 

locations.25 According to the DOD capstone report, DOL staff will likely 

not be present at capstone events overseas and will conduct the warm 

handover in other ways, and VA staff will be located only at larger 

overseas installations. For example, servicemembers overseas will be 

able to contact DOL’s call center within established hours, which, due to 

time differences, may limit opportunities to make a person-to-person 

contact.

Effective training programs encourage participation and hold both 

individuals and their leaders responsible. While DOD has taken steps that 

are consistent with most attributes of effective training programs, two 

services currently lack an oversight mechanism at the commander level 

to help ensure participation. DOD’s efforts underway include: (1) 

 25 SBA staff are not required to participate in the capstone to support the warm handover 

for any of the services and, instead, plan to provide SBA contact and other information, 

such as website resources, during the entrepreneurial track.

Agencies’ Efforts to 

Address the Remaining 

Two Elements are Mixed

Element 4: Ensuring 

Participation and Completion
Page 23 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

prioritizing training for servicemembers based on agreed-upon goals and 

priorities, (2) encouraging servicemembers to buy in to training goals, and 

(3) communicating the importance of training.26 For example, DOD and 

the services communicate the importance of TAP training by providing 

information on their websites, including how TAP aids in a successful 

transition, and through other communications, such as brochures with

similar information. In addition, DOD has assigned unit commanders the 

responsibility of ensuring that eligible servicemembers have full access to 

and successfully complete required TAP components.27

However, only the Army and the Air Force possess the capability to 

gauge the rate at which servicemembers under an individual unit 

commander participate in TAP. Specifically, the Army and Air Force 

provide commanders and their leaders information on their unit’s 

participation levels.28 In contrast, the Navy and the Marines do not have 

such systems. According to Navy officials, they obtained funding and plan 

to develop such a system by late June 2014 and plan to start using the 

data for oversight no later than fiscal year 2015. Marine officials said that 

because they have a long-standing culture of requiring servicemembers 

to attend TAP training, such an oversight mechanism was not 

necessary.29

 26 DOD guidance requires the services to schedule servicemembers to participate in TAP 

components at appropriate points during their careers. According to officials from the four 

services, it can be challenging to ensure attendance for servicemembers separating under 

short notice, such as those separating for disciplinary reasons. In such cases, officials 

said that the services have offered alternatives to the regular TAP training if time or 

circumstances did not permit a servicemember to take a TAP class.

In our 2002 and 2005 reviews of TAP, we found that 

servicemembers sometimes faced difficulties being released from military

duties to attend TAP because of the priority accorded their military 

27 Commanders are assigned responsibility through a DOD Directive-type Memorandum, 

which is an interim policy that was valid though May 2013, but, according to DOD officials, 

has been extended through May 2014. The interim policy will be incorporated into a TAP 

DOD Instruction (DODI) that DOD is drafting. DOD officials stated that the draft DODI will 

be finalized after going through the federal rulemaking process, which generally requires 

agencies to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register. 

28 This includes, for example, the number and percentage of eligible soldiers who 

completed the DOL employment workshop not later than 9 months prior to separation.

29 It is DOD’s intent that the IG of each service monitors TAP implementation and 

compliance, which may include monitoring this issue at the commander level. However, 

such monitoring is not designed to provide regular and timely information that could be 

used to manage the rates at which TAP participants successfully complete training.
Page 24 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

mission or the lack of supervisory support for TAP.30

Agencies should have outcome-oriented performance measures for 

training programs,

More recently, based 

on the pilot of the capstone event, DOD reported that ensuring 

servicemember participation in capstone events was a challenge for most 

of the services. According to DOD, lack of servicemembers’ awareness of 

this requirement and lack of commanders’ support may have hampered 

participation in capstone events. Without routine information on 

servicemembers’ participation by commander, it may be difficult to hold 

accountable those directly responsible for ensuring participation.

31 and the agencies implementing TAP have 

established such measures to assess the program’s performance. For 

example, one set of measures tracks program outputs, such as the 

percentage of servicemembers who participated in required TAP 

components, the percentage enrolled in eBenefits,32 and the percentage 

who met career readiness standards before separating.33

While the agencies have established performance measures, training 

programs can be assessed at differing levels, ranging from lower level 

Another set 

measures outcomes, such as the usage rate of the Post 9/11 Veterans 

Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Post 9/11 GI Bill) among recent 

eligible veterans, and another measures the percentage of unemployed 

post-9/11 veterans, 18-24 years of age, compared to their non-veteran 

peers. Officials from the agencies acknowledged that these outcome 

measures may be affected by other variables, such as the economy, 

making it difficult to attribute results to the program.

 30 GAO, Military and Veterans’ Benefits: Enhanced Services Could Improve Transition 

Assistance for Reserves and National Guard, GAO-05-544 (Washington, D.C.: May 20, 

2005); Military and Veterans’ Benefits: Observations on the Transition Assistance 

Program, GAO-02-914T (Washington, D.C.: July 18, 2002).

31 Outputs are the direct products and services delivered by a program, and outcomes are 

the results of those products and services. See GAO, Performance Measurement and 

Evaluation: Definitions and Relationships, GAO-11-646SP (Washington, D.C.: May 2011). 

32 eBenefits is a central portal or location for servicemembers, veterans, and their families 

to research, find, and access their benefits and personal information.

33 As of February 2014 the performance goal was reduced from at least 85 percent of 

servicemembers meeting career readiness standards prior to their separation to 65 

percent.

Element 5: Measuring 

Performance and Evaluating 

Results
Page 25 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

basic end-of-course evaluations to higher level impact evaluations.34

 34 Training programs can be evaluated by measurements at varying levels, from lower 

level evaluations which include (1) participant reaction and (2) changes in their skills and 

knowledge; to higher level ones which include (3) changes in their behavior or 

performance and (4) the impact of the training. See 

The 

agencies plan to evaluate TAP at lower levels. Their evaluation plan 

includes (1) gauging participant reaction to all TAP components through 

end-of-course evaluations and (2) determining whether servicemembers 

met the career readiness standards prior to separation. Higher level 

evaluations are also important to help gauge the effectiveness of TAP, 

and the agencies have not demonstrated a strategic approach to planning 

such evaluations. Since the program is administered by multiple 

agencies, planning an evaluation is more challenging than if it were 

administered by a single agency. In December 2011, the agencies stated, 

in an internal report, that they would develop a methodology to assess the 

effectiveness of TAP by engaging new veterans approximately six months 

after they have separated from the military. Despite the modular nature of 

TAP, this report did not specify whether this type of higher level 

evaluation would assess all of TAP or certain components. DOL and VA 

are considering higher level evaluations for the employment workshop 

and VA benefits briefings. For example, DOL is considering different 

methodologies it could use to conduct an impact evaluation of the 

employment workshop. However, the agencies could not provide a 

rationale for not using higher-level evaluations to assess either TAP 

overall or some of the other TAP components and career-specific tracks. 

Best practices call for the development of a written evaluation strategy, 

which the agencies prepared for lower evaluation levels, but not for higher 

levels. Without a written evaluation strategy that identifies the TAP 

components to be evaluated, and includes the appropriate level and 

timing of the evaluation and methods, the agencies may miss important 

opportunities to obtain information needed to make fully informed 

decisions on whether and how to modify TAP and may either over invest 

or under invest in evaluations.

GAO-04-546G. 
Page 26 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Based on GAO’s prior work and interviews with stakeholders, we 

identified a key remaining challenge; namely, that DOD lacks a process to 

assess the TAP experience of National Guard and Reserve members. 

DOD’s policy generally requires all eligible servicemembers, including 

members of the National Guard and Reserve, to be exposed to the entire 

TAP experience even if their circumstances differ. Unlike active duty 

servicemembers, many members of the National Guard and Reserve hold 

civilian occupations,35 and federal law protects their employment rights 

when they return from active duty.36

However, according to many stakeholders that we talked with, including 

officials from the services and organizations that support members of the 

National Guard and Reserve and other servicemembers, DOD has not 

resolved long-standing concerns that eligible members of the National 

Guard and Reserve attend TAP offerings in locations and on a timetable 

that diminish their experience.

If they can document their civilian 

employment or acceptance to an institution of higher education or 

accredited technical training, members of the National Guard and 

Reserve and other eligible servicemembers can be exempted from 

attending the DOL employment workshop. Nevertheless, they are 

generally required to complete pre-separation counseling, the VA benefits 

I and II briefings and, under DOD policy, participate in the capstone 

event. Further, the policy states that they must attend the DOD core 

curriculum and applicable career specific tracks if they cannot meet the 

career readiness standards associated with these two components.

37

 35 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, post 9/11 veterans who were current or 

past members of the Reserve or National Guard had an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent 

in August 2012, lower than the rate for those veterans who had not been members of the 

Reserve or National Guard (13.7 percent). Members of the National Guard and Reserve 

train for their military mission during certain weeks and weekends each year. 

Specifically, given that eligible National 

Guard and Reserve members generally demobilize at locations where 

they neither work nor live, they may be distracted by their desire to return 

home, which can affect how much the training benefits them. Separating 

36 Among other rights, servicemembers who meet the statutory requirements are 

generally entitled to reinstatement to the positions they would have held if they had never 

left their employment or to positions of similar seniority, status, and pay. 38 U.S.C. § 4311 

et seq. 

37 In 2005, we reported concerns about TAP timing and location for this population. At that 

time most members of the National Guard and Reserves did not have the opportunity to 

attend an employment workshop during demobilization. See GAO-05-544.

DOD Lacks a 

Process to Assess 

the TAP Experience 

of National Guard and 

Reserve Members
Page 27 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

servicemembers need to be aware of the benefits and services and know 

how to access them to take advantage of them, such as the Post-9/11 GI 

Bill. In a January 2013 report, the Defense Business Board Task Group 

recommended that eligible National Guard and Reserve members be 

afforded the opportunity to demobilize and transition in their home unit’s 

geographical area.38 According to stakeholders, eligible National Guard 

and Reserve members also typically have less time to complete the 

program because they often demobilize more quickly than active duty 

servicemembers separate.39 For example, according to DOD’s 2011 

Handbook, the Reserve demobilization timeline makes scheduling a preseparation counseling appointment not later than 90 days prior to leaving 

active duty impractical for Reserve members.40

According to officials from DOD and the services, they took steps to help 

meet the needs of National Guard and Reserve members eligible for 

TAP. For example, the agencies tailored the content of TAP components 

to better suit the needs of National Guard and Reserve members after 

analyzing the results of feedback from pilots of TAP.41

 38 Defense Business Board, Employing Our Veterans Part II: Service Member Transition, 

a report prepared at the request of the Department of Defense, Jan. 24, 2013.

However, only one 

of the steps taken directly addresses the concerns of stakeholders related 

39 Members of the National Guard and Reserve being released from active duty have a 

short time period when they come back from deployment, while active duty 

servicemembers generally have at least 90 days—and up to 24 months—to participate in 

TAP before they separate. Typically, the demobilization process is rapid, taking a few 

weeks once members of the National Guard and Reserve arrive in the United States from 

overseas. During demobilization, they are expected to participate in numerous briefings on 

various topics, such as legal and medical issues, and scheduled activities, such as 

physical examinations.

40 DOD, Compensation and Benefits Handbook for Wounded, Ill and Injured Members of 

the Armed Forces, 00054-624 (Oct. 2011). As noted previously, eligible servicemembers 

must generally be provided TAP services as soon as possible within the 2 years prior to 

their anticipated retirement or in the 1 year prior to their anticipated separation date. In 

either case, services must be provided no later than 90 days prior to their discharge or 

release. The exceptions to this rule occur when retirements or separations are not 

anticipated until 90 or fewer days of active duty remain or a member of the reserve is 

being demobilized under circumstances in which the 90 day requirement is unfeasible. In 

such cases, TAP services must be provided as soon as possible within the remaining 

period of service.

41 In addition, DOD and the services convened a task team and as a result, decided to 

include representatives from the National Guard and Reserve as nonvoting members of 

the internal DOD TAP Coordinating Council.
Page 28 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

to the location and timing of TAP. Specifically, eligible members of the 

Army National Guard are allowed to participate in the DOL employment 

workshop and the capstone event in their home unit’s geographical area, 

according to DOD and Army officials. These eligible Army National Guard 

members will remain on active duty while participating in these two 

components.

Nonetheless, DOD may not be well positioned to determine whether its 

actions successfully address the long-standing challenges in designing 

transition services for the National Guard and Reserve. This is because 

while DOD collects participant feedback through the online assessment, 

this tool does not ask whether the timing and location met the needs of 

servicemembers, including the National Guard and Reserve.42 Moreover, 

DOD’s planned survey to active duty servicemembers contains questions 

about the timing of TAP, but DOD has not drafted similar questions for its 

survey to the National Guard and Reserve.43 According to OMB, being 

able to track and measure specific program data can help agencies 

diagnose problems, identify drivers of future performance, evaluate risk, 

support collaboration, and inform follow-up actions.44

 42 In addition, although the participant assessment collects immediate participant reaction 

to the training, it may not capture concerns that National Guard and Reservists may face 

after leaving TAP. For example, officials from two veteran service organizations expressed 

concern that TAP may not focus enough on how National Guard and Reserve members 

should address potential employer discrimination.

Without a 

systematic process targeted to identify any remaining long-standing 

concerns, DOD will not be able to make fully informed decisions about the 

extent to which eligible members of the National Guard and Reserve reap 

the full benefits of TAP.

43 The Defense Manpower Data Center conducts a series of Web-based surveys called 

Status of Forces surveys, which help decision makers within DOD to (1) evaluate existing 

programs and policies, (2) establish baselines before implementing new programs and 

policies, and (3) monitor the progress of programs and policies and their effects on the 

total force. The Status of Forces surveys include a survey of active duty military 

personnel, called the Status of Forces Active; a survey of national guard and reserve 

military personnel, called the Status of Forces Reserve Survey; and a survey of civilian 

employees, called the Status of Forces Survey of Civilian Employees. 

44 Furthermore, according to government standards for internal control, information should 

be available to help inform management in making decisions and identifying risks and 

problem areas. In addition, promising practices of program administration that we have 

identified include a strong capacity to collect and analyze accurate, useful, and timely 

data. (Harold I. Steinberg, Using Performance Information to Drive Performance 

Improvement, Association of Government Accountants CPAG Research Series: Report 

No. 29 (Alexandria, VA: Dec. 2011)).
Page 29 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Helping servicemembers successfully transition to civilian life after their 

service ends is an important government goal. The agencies undertook 

an ambitious effort to redesign the 1990s-era program to provide 

servicemembers with training and skills to successfully transition to 

civilian life. The increase in the number of servicemembers attending the 

revised TAP components, along with the significant coordination effort 

among multiple agencies and military services, pose significant 

implementation challenges. Efforts to implement the redesigned program 

continue to evolve. The importance of serving the ongoing and projected 

wave of servicemembers departing the military increases the urgency to 

fully implement TAP components as well as to finalize related policies and 

procedures. To the extent that the program remains behind schedule in 

implementing TAP, some transitioning servicemembers may be denied 

the full benefit of the revamped program. Because TAP is not fully 

implemented, the full impact of the revamped TAP, particularly the warm 

handover—a key effort to serve those deemed at greater risk of not being 

career ready—remains to be seen.

The revamped TAP exhibits elements important for the effective 

implementation and evaluation of the program. Yet, we found room for 

improvement in several key areas. In particular, while federal law 

generally requires DOD to mandate participation in the employment 

workshop and DOD policy requires that all eligible transitioning 

servicemembers participate in TAP overall, the Navy and the Marines 

lack the ability to provide unit commanders and their leaders with 

information on participation levels of servicemembers under their 

command. Without the capability to gauge and report participation in TAP 

components by unit commander—those directly responsible for ensuring 

servicemember participation—leaders may find that holding them 

accountable is difficult.

While the administration cites the revamped TAP as a key strategy of its 

crosscutting goal to improve the career readiness of veterans, it may not 

be positioned to determine the extent to which the program prepared 

veterans to pursue their post-separation goals. Without a written 

evaluation strategy that identifies the TAP components to be evaluated 

and includes the appropriate level and timing of the evaluation methods, 

the agencies may miss important opportunities to obtain information 

needed to make fully informed decisions on whether and how to modify 

TAP and may either over invest or under invest in evaluations.

The circumstances of National Guard and Reserve members differ from 

those of other active duty servicemembers. Many stakeholders have 

Conclusions
Page 30 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

raised concerns that these circumstances diminish eligible National 

Guard and Reserve members’ TAP experience. Absent efforts to 

systematically collect information about eligible National Guard and 

Reserve members’ experiences under the revamped program, DOD may 

not be well positioned to determine whether there are problems with how 

TAP is provided to these groups.

Based on our review, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense take 

the following actions:

1. To better ensure servicemember participation in and completion of 

TAP, direct the Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness to 

require that all services provide unit commanders and their leaders 

information on TAP participation levels of servicemembers under their 

command, similar to that provided by the Army and Air Force. Such 

information could be used to help hold leaders accountable for 

ensuring TAP participation and completion.

2. To provide information on the extent to which the revamped TAP is 

effective, direct the Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness to 

work with the partner agencies to develop a written strategy for 

determining which components and tracks to evaluate and the most 

appropriate evaluation methods. This strategy should include a plan to 

use the results of evaluations to modify or redesign the program, as 

appropriate.

3. To ensure that decisions about the participation of eligible members of 

the National Guard and Reserves in TAP are fully informed, direct the 

Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness to systematically 

collect information on any challenges facing demobilizing members of 

the National Guard and Reserves regarding the logistics of the timing 

and location to attend TAP. For example, agencies might add 

questions to their online assessment tool specific to eligible members 

of the National Guard and Reserves who participate in TAP.

We provided a draft of this report to DOD, VA, DOL, and SBA for 

comment. In its comments, DOD agreed with one recommendation and 

disagreed with the other two recommendations. VA generally agreed with 

our findings. Written comments from DOD and VA are reproduced in 

appendices III and IV. DOL and SBA did not provide comments, but all 

four agencies provided technical comments, which we incorporated into 

the final report as appropriate.

Recommendations for 

Executive Action

Agency Comments

and Our Evaluation
Page 31 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

DOD agreed with our recommendation to work with partner agencies to 

develop a written strategy for determining which components and tracks 

to evaluate and the most appropriate evaluation methods. DOD stated 

that it will continue to support interagency collaboration, which, as of 

January 31, 2014, has been formalized in a memorandum of 

understanding among the agencies administering TAP.

DOD disagreed with our recommendation to require that all of the 

services provide unit commanders and their leaders information on TAP 

participation levels of servicemembers under their command. DOD stated 

that we justified the need for a mechanism to ensure a servicemember’s 

completion of TAP by commander based on concerns that without such a 

mechanism, commanders will not support the release of servicemembers 

to attend TAP. DOD also said that these concerns are based on 

observations that preceded full implementation of the capstone event. In 

October 2013, DOD launched the capstone as a mandatory process by 

which commanders verify TAP participation and positively affirm that 

servicemembers have or have not met career readiness standards. In 

addition, DOD said that capstone event implementation was 

accompanied by a communications campaign to inform both commanders 

and the services’ TAP providers of this key requirement. Finally, DOD 

said that capstone event completion is monitored departmentwide to 

ensure compliance. 

We agree with DOD that departmentwide monitoring of capstone event 

completion is an important element in helping ensure compliance. 

However, such monitoring does not provide routine information to 

commanders and their leaders and not all TAP locations will be monitored 

routinely. As noted in our report, based on the pilot of the capstone event 

last fall, DOD reported that ensuring servicemember participation in 

capstone events was a challenge for most of the services (with the 

exception of the Air Force), adding that this challenge is possibly due in 

part to lack of commanders’ support. Commander support for the program 

has been a long-standing challenge for the program. Therefore, we 

continue to believe that our recommendation is needed because it would 

establish an accountability mechanism for TAP that mirrors the level at 

which responsibility has been assigned. DOD has assigned unit 

commanders the responsibility of ensuring that eligible servicemembers 

have full access to and successfully complete required TAP components. 

Providing information to unit commanders and their leaders on TAP 

participation levels of servicemembers under their command—similar to 

that provided by the Army and Air Force—could thus promote 

accountability and oversight. Servicemember participation in TAP is 
Page 32 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

generally required by law and DOD policy, and also relates to a CrossAgency Priority Goal, which reinforces the need for an appropriate 

accountability mechanism. 

DOD also stated that the Navy is funding IT system upgrades to provide 

the ability to analyze and report program compliance at the command 

level. DOD added that the Marine Corps has mandated participation since 

the program's inception, and Marine Corps commanders leverage the 

capabilities of the personnel system to identify eligible Marines and 

schedule their TAP attendance. DOD stated that despite the limitations of 

a data tracking system that underreports compliance figures, the Marine 

Corps had the highest compliance rate of all services, as of December 

2013. DOD said it recommends that department-wide compliance data be 

allowed to normalize to show true compliance percentages before the 

services are required to fund and implement expensive systems for the 

sole purpose of providing an additional mechanism for commander 

accountability. However, we continue to believe that our recommendation 

is needed. Three of the services either have or are working to develop the 

kind of accountability mechanism that we are recommending, but the 

Marine Corps does not plan to develop such a system. While DOD 

reports that the Marine Corps has the highest TAP compliance rate of all 

services, DOD did not provide any data on these rates. Finally, in 

response to DOD’s recommendation to wait until compliance data 

normalize, we believe that this would not be appropriate. We do not see 

any advantage to delaying the implementation of appropriate 

accountability mechanisms to provide assurance that the ongoing and 

projected wave of servicemembers departing the military receive the 

expected level of services from TAP. 

DOD disagreed with our recommendation to systematically collect 

information on challenges facing demobilizing members of the National 

Guard and Reserve regarding the timing and location to attend TAP. 

Specifically, DOD stated that it has long understood that the National 

Guard and Reserves operate under schedules and logistical constraints 

that differ from those of active duty servicemembers. DOD stated that 

several processes (which we note in our report) are already in place to 

identity and rectify any misalignments between TAP services and the 

needs of eligible National Guard and Reserve members, including regular 

coordinating councils that include representation from the National Guard 

and Reserve and TAP managers, as well as a participant assessment 

that provides ample opportunity for eligible National Guard and Reserve 

members to voice concerns. In addition, DOD highlighted the 

implementation of the military life cycle transition model in which DOD 
Page 33 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

plans to provide the services, including to the National Guard and 

Reserve, with the latitude to optimize placement of certain elements of 

TAP throughout a servicemember's military service. According to DOD, 

the military life cycle transition model may help address some of the 

challenges related to the timing and location of program delivery. As we 

note in the report, full implementation of the military life cycle transition 

model is planned by October 2014.

Nonetheless, at this time DOD is not fully positioned to know whether or 

not the revamped program addresses the long-standing challenges facing 

eligible members of the National Guard and Reserve in taking TAP. As 

we describe in the report, all eligible servicemembers, including the 

National Guard and Reserve members, have an opportunity to provide 

feedback about the instruction, content, and facilities for TAP. However, 

the participant assessment does not ask questions specific to the 

National Guard and Reserve experience even though they face different 

circumstances than active duty servicemembers. Given these differences, 

we continue to believe that unless DOD systematically collects 

information on any challenges facing eligible members of the National 

Guard and Reserve, DOD is at risk of not fully knowing whether the 

revamped TAP addresses long-standing challenges. In addition, the 

move to a military life cycle transition model could enable active duty 

servicemembers and members of the National Guard and Reserve to 

benefit from transition-related assistance throughout their military service. 

Recognizing that the military life cycle transition model is not implemented 

and specific policies and plans are not completed, many unknowns 

remain about how it will work in general and how National Guard and 

Reserve members will fare specifically. During our review, we asked DOD 

how this program would work in practice, including for National Guard and 

Reserve members, but DOD did not provide us details.

We are sending copies of this report to appropriate congressional 

committees; the Secretary of Defense; the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

the Secretary of Labor; the Acting Administrator of the Small Business 

Administration; and other interested parties. In addition, this report will be 

available at no charge on GAO’s website at http://www.gao.gov.
Page 34 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

If you or your staff members have any questions regarding this report, 

please contact me at (202) 512-7215 or sherrilla@gao.gov. Contact 

points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may 

be found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major 

contributions to this report are listed in appendix V.

Andrew Sherrill

Director,

Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues
Page 35 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

List of Committees

The Honorable Carl Levin

Chairman

The Honorable James M. Inhofe

Ranking Member

Committee on Armed Services

United States Senate

The Honorable Bernie Sanders

Chairman

The Honorable Richard Burr

Ranking Member

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

United States Senate

The Honorable Howard P. “Buck” McKeon

Chairman

The Honorable Adam Smith

Ranking Member

Committee on Armed Services

House of Representatives

The Honorable Jeff Miller

Chairman

The Honorable Michael H. Michaud

Ranking Member

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

House of Representatives
Appendix I: Technical Appendix

Page 36 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

This appendix summarizes our work to assess efforts to implement and 

evaluate the revamped TAP.

For each of the five elements that we identified as important for the 

effective implementation and evaluation of TAP, we identified relevant 

attributes that we used to determine the extent to which the elements 

were addressed in the revamped TAP (see table 2).1

Table 2: Elements and Relevant Attributes and Extent They Have Been Addressed 

Element Completed Underway Not completed Relevant attributes

Adequately Addressed

1. Track Attendance 

a

The agency uses systems to manage and track whether 

eligible servicemembers receive training.

2. Processes for Ensuring 

Quality of Instruction, Content, 

and Facilities

2a. The agency takes actions to foster an environment 

conducive to effective training (approaches may include 

using facilities and equipment that enable effective 

implementation of training and ensuring that facilitators 

are engaging, knowledgeable, and experienced).

2b. The agency measures participants’ reactions to and 

satisfaction with the training they receive.

2c. The agency has a clear methodology, timetable, and 

delegation of responsibility for the collection of data that 

will be used to assess training and development 

programs.

2d. The agency incorporates monitoring and evaluation 

feedback into its training efforts.

 1 GAO-04-546G.

Appendix I: Technical Appendix

Elements and Relevant 

Attributes and the Extent 

to Which They Have Been 

Addressed
Appendix I: Technical Appendix

Page 37 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Element Completed Underway Not completed Relevant attributes

3. Mechanisms to Assess 

Career Readiness

3a. The agency measures the extent to which learning 

has occurred (approaches may include having an overall 

approach for measuring; taking steps to analyze such 

data; issuing reports detailing results of analysis; and 

issuing guidance on how evaluation results will be used to 

inform, modify, and improve planning).

3b. The agency ensures that data are collected 

systematically and in a timely manner.

3c. The agency provides evidence that it requires 

commanders or their designees to be properly trained to 

coach, evaluate, and conduct discussions with employees 

regarding their career readiness.

Mixedb

4. Mechanisms to Ensure 

Participation and Completion

4a. Agency leaders communicate the importance of 

training (approaches may include issuing memoranda or 

announcements and mentioning the training on web 

sites).

4b. An organization or entity is held accountable, along 

with the line executives, for ensuring that participants 

successfully complete training (approaches include 

reinforcing separation of work time from training time).

4c.The agency adjusts servicemembers’ work schedules 

so that they can participate in training (approaches 

include agencies tracking managerial support for training 

through participation rates—which assumes enrollment—

in their units).

4e. The agency prioritizes training for servicemembers 

based on agreed-upon goals and priorities.

4f. The agency encourages servicemembers to buy in to 

the goals of training so that they participate fully and apply 

new knowledge and skills (approaches may include using 

individual development plans, seeking employees’ ideas 

to improve training, or issuing guidance on managing their 

career paths).

5. Measures of Performance 

and Processes to 

Systematically Evaluate the 

5a. The agency has performance measures to assess the 

results achieved through TAP.
Appendix I: Technical Appendix

Page 38 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Element Completed Underway Not completed Relevant attributes

Effectiveness or Benefits 5b. The agency has a clear methodology, timetable, and 

delegation of responsibility for evaluating the benefits or 

impact of TAP.

5c. The agency analyzes and considers different 

stakeholder perspectives (including those of line 

managers and staff, customers, and experts in areas such 

as business and human capital management) in 

assessing the benefits or impact of training.

5d. The agency plans to or incorporates results of 

evaluations into its training.

Source: GAO analysis of data provided by DOD, the four services, DOL, SBA and VA.

a We considered the agency to be “adequately addressing” the element if the overall status of the 

efforts to address the element was determined to be completed or underway.

b We considered the overall efforts to address the element to be “mixed” if some attributes related to 

an element had efforts completed or underway to address them, but one or more others did not.

To determine the extent to which agencies have addressed each element 

and attribute, we made our assessments in two steps. First, an analyst 

reviewed all of the evidence. Based on that review, the analyst 

documented evidence that conformed to the elements and attributes and 

made and documented a judgment about the status of these efforts. Then 

a second analyst separately reviewed the assessment and documented 

their agreement or disagreement. The two analysts discussed any 

differences in their assessments and made changes based on their verbal 

resolution of those differences.

We assessed the status of the agencies’ efforts to address each relevant

attribute as “completed”, “underway”, or “not completed”. Based on this 

analysis, we then determined the status of efforts to address each 

respective attribute overall. For example, for the status of efforts to 

address an attribute overall to be considered “completed”, efforts to 

address each relevant attribute had to be completed. For the status of 

efforts to be considered “underway”, it had to be documented that efforts 

to address each relevant attribute were progressing toward being 

finalized, or were a mix of underway efforts and finalized efforts. For the 

status of efforts to be considered “not completed”, efforts to address at 

least one relevant attribute were not determined to be finalized or 

underway.
Appendix I: Technical Appendix

Page 39 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

We considered the agency to be “adequately addressing” the element if 

the overall status of the efforts to address the relevant attributes was 

determined to be completed or underway. However, if some attributes 

related to an element had efforts completed or underway to address 

them, but one or more other attributes did not have efforts completed or 

underway to address it (them), then we consider the overall efforts to 

address the element to be “mixed”.

We used the following general decision rules for characterizing the status 

of efforts to address each attribute as “completed”, “underway”, and “not 

completed”:

• “Completed” means interagency partners (or relevant agency) have a 

system, policy, or procedure in place to address a relevant attribute.

• “Underway” means interagency partners (or relevant agency) have an 

authoritative internal or public document that demonstrate progress 

toward implementing actions to address the attribute (e.g., agencies 

have draft policies, operating procedures, or guidance, or they have 

interim systems in place and/or are developing systems).

• “Not completed” means that interagency partners (or relevant agency) 

have shown little to no action toward implementing actions to address 

the attribute, meaning they lack an authoritative internal or public 

document (e.g., no draft policies, operating procedures, or guidance 

or interim systems).

As we conducted this analysis, we kept in mind how far along agencies 

(mainly DOD and the military services) are in implementing each 

component of TAP (informed by objective 1). Because agencies were in 

the process of implementing the revamped TAP and the program was not 

fully operational at the time of our review, we were not able to determine 

whether the policies and procedures are in place at all sites or if they are 

working as intended. Similarly, we were not able to comment on whether 

the changes to TAP are yielding desired benefits or improvements in 

outcomes.
Appendix II: DOD Form 2958, Individual

Transition Plan (ITP) Checklist

Page 40 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Appendix II: DOD Form 2958, Individual 

Transition Plan (ITP) Checklist
Appendix II: DOD Form 2958, Individual 

Transition Plan (ITP) Checklist

Page 41 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 
Appendix III: Comments from the Department 

of Defense

Page 42 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Appendix III: Comments from the 

Department of Defense
Appendix III: Comments from the Department 

of Defense

Page 43 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 
Appendix III: Comments from the Department 

of Defense

Page 44 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department 

of Veterans Affairs

Page 45 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Appendix IV: Comments from the 

Department of Veterans Affairs
Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

Page 46 GAO-14-144 Transitioning Veterans 

Andrew Sherrill, (202) 512-7215 or sherrilla@gao.gov.

In addition to the contact named above, individuals making key 

contributions to this report were Patrick Dibattista, Assistant Director; 

Julianne Hartman Cutts; and James Whitcomb. In addition, key support 

was provided by James Bennett, Rachael Chamberlin, David Chrisinger, 

Brett Fallavollita, Alex Galuten, Kathy Leslie, David Moser, and Michael 

Silver.

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Staff 

Acknowledgments

(131231)
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